Darkspawn Empire
by Darkside524
Summary: Set after the events of Dragon Age : Inquisition. With all other races on Thedas dead, the Darkspawn turn their gaze skywards. The galaxy will never be the same again.
1. Chapter 1

OK, let me start by saying that this is currently just a place holder. I'm only going to put up one or two chapters for now so I can focus on other projects.

And before anyone points it out, yes this story is going to have a lot of similarities with other mass effect crossovers (particularly Rise of Tvinter by Tel Janin Aman and Xcom : second contact by Agayek). These are unfortunately unavoidable as I still have to follow the mass effect timeline (mostly) and there are only so may ways you can tie dragon age and mass effect together in a way that makes sense.

Disclaimer: I do not own either Dragon Age or Mass Effect ( if I did I wouldn't have mad the bloody star child!). I claim no responsibility for the damage my bad jokes do to readers brains. Any songs (or parodies of songs) belong to whoever owns them.

As always, rate and review.

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Chapter 1: Timeline

Note: due to differences in the Andrastian and Imperial calendar, it is hard to find exact dates for events prior to the Divine Age. Any era marked with a '?' is a rough estimate of when these events happened.

AD = After Dagon age

40,000,000,000 years ago : The big bang occurs, forming the universe.

50,000 years ago : A prothean cruiser is shot down by a Reaper in Thedas' solar system. The front half crashes on a barren planet ( evenly it will be named Anderfel) but the engine section carries on and explodes in Thedas' upper atmosphere. The element zero used in its FTL drive merges with an underground mineral creating lyrium while the dark energy released goes deeper, forming red lyrium.

2000-1000 (?) years ago : The human Tevinter Imperium is formed during the "Ancient age". During this time the elven city of Arlathan is destroyed by Tevinter and the elves all enslaved. Tevinters rulers, the magisters, quickly become known for their cruelty and disregard for life.

1000 (?) years ago : For reasons unknown, the magisters enter the golden city in the fade but it is made black by their sin (although one of the surviving magisters claims it was never gold to start with and that they were somehow "deceived"). They return as the first Darkspawn and after finding and corrupting the old dragon god Dumat, they start the First Blight which devastates Tevinter and almost wipes out the underground Dwarven empire.

800 (?) years ago : The First Blight ends with Archdaemon Dumat's death at the hands of the newly formed Grey Warden order. At some point (no one agrees when) the Prophet Andraste is born (in either Val Royeaux or Denerim) and leads a rebellion against the Imperium. Despite her death at Tevinter hands Andraste's followers manage to defeat the Imperium. As a reward for aiding Andraste the Elves are given a new homeland, the Dales. The ancient age ends with the founding of the "Chantry" in Orlais and the new calendar.

800-700 years ago: The Divine age. The Second Blight begins. With Tevinter gone people turn to the new Chantry for deliverance. After the Blight is stopped the Chantry signs the Nevarran Accord with the Inquisition and the Seekers of Truth, putting both organisations under Chantry authority. The Circles of Magi are formed so the Chantry can maintain control over the mages.

700-600 years ago: The Glory age. Unwilling to let the Elves continue worshiping their own gods the Chantry invades the Dales in the first "Exalted March." The crusade succeeds and the surviving Elves are either forced to live in Alienages, or as homeless vagabonds.

600-500 years ago: The Towers age. The Grand Cathedral in Val Royaux is completed after two centuries of construction. Archdaemon Toth launches the Third Blight which lasts fifteen years before he is killed. The Tevinter Imperial Chantry cuts ties to Val Royaux in Orlais over differing theological views.

500-400 years ago : The Black age. The Chantry launches four exulted marches against Tevinter but all fail to take the capitol of Minrathrous.

400-300 years ago: The Exalted age. The Fourth Blight begins led by Archdaemon Andoral. With Orlais and Tevinter unwilling to help, the Grey Wardens unite the rest of Thedas and defeat the blight, but only at heavy cost. The Grey Wardens Griffon mounts suffer heavy casualties and go extinct in the next two centuries. In the south King Calenhad Theirin unites the Alamarri tribes and forms the kingdom of Fereldan.

300-100 years ago: The Steel age and the Storm age. These ages are dominated by the First Qunari war between the humans of the Andrasten Chantry and the Qunari, a large, horned race due to differing religious views (again). The war ultimately ends in a stalemate. Dragons are hunted to the brink of extinction.

100-0 years ago: The Blessed age. The Orlisian empire invades and conquers Fereldan but are driven out after fifty eight years of rebellion. Dragons re-emerge giving the next age its name.

0-39 AD : The Dragon age. Archdaemon Urthemiel begins the Fifth Blight in the south of Fereldan. Fereldan forces and a handful of Grey Wardans gather at the ruin of Ostager to face them.

The Battle is a disaster.

Fereldan King Cailan's father-in-law General Logain betrays the king by pulling out his forces and leaving Cailan to die. Two Grey Wardens survive, Alistair, a former Templar and Cailan's half brother and Lyna Mahariel, a Dalish elf. Together with a group including a drunk Dwarf, an old Mage, an outcast Qunari and others they kill Logain and destroy Urthemiel ending the Blight.

Alistair marries Annora, Logain's daughter and Cailan's widow, the two rule Fereldan jointly while Lyna is promoted to Warden Commander.

All is not well however. A Darkspawn civil war erupts with some following the Mother (a mad Broodmother) and others following the Architect (A sentient emissary with good motives yet questionable methods). Lyna agrees to help the Architect kill the mother. After she is dead the Architect retreats underground with the now sentient "disciple" Darkspawn to work on a way to fee all Darkspawn from the old gods and the cycle of Blights.

40 AD : The whole world goes to hell in a hand basket. Countries are at each other's throats, a mage templar war erupts and daemons from the fade begin invading through a tear in the Veil. On top of that Archdaemon Razikale begins the Sixth Blight, leading all of the remaining non-intelligent Darkspawn to the surface. With an apocalypse raging above, the Architect's Darkspawn retreat further underground to the lost Primal Dwarven cities.

100 AD : Not needing food or drink (thanks to the taint sustaining them) the Darkspawn thrive in their new underground home. Nugs and deepstakers are hunted and eaten as delicacies and the Darkspawn learn how to read, write and smith metal. The biggest advancement comes in the form of the new Broodmothers.

Before, Darkspawn were birthed by Broodmothers, large, grotesque monsters created by passing the taint on to human, elven, dwarven or qunari women. The Archetect used magic and blood samples from each race to create the new Broodmothers. They are each pureblood Darkspawn, intelligent, self aware and abele to spawn both intelligent Darkspawn and more Broodmothers. Unlike their forbears these Broodmothers look more like their "male" counter parts but with a distinctly female appearance (odd because Darkspawn don't have gender). They still all have four tentacles growing out of their backs, a throw back from their ancestors.

150 AD : Archdaemon Lusacan awakens accidently. Upon finding that the Darkspawn no longer obey he goes on a rampage. He is eventually killed by the Architect, although he sacrifices his own life to kill the beast. His last words are reported to be that his is proud of what the Darkspawn have become.

200 AD: The Darkspawn return to the surface and discover a desolate world. All of the other races are dead. Their once shining cities reduced to rubble. The emissaries (Darkspawn mages) discover the fade is similarly desolate, with the few daemons and sprits remaining refusing to speak of what happened. Despite this there is hope for the future. Plant life has survived and it is not long before Thedas is green again. The Darkspawn begin constructing surface resorts.

300 AD: The Darkspawn discover that they are not the only survivors. In addition to wolves and rats a clutch of dragon eggs are discovered in a mountain cave. An ample supply of nugs keeps the dragonlings from going on a rampage. On a sadder note a hidden colony of elves is discovered but there are not enough left to sustain their population.

389 AD: The last elf dies at the age of one hundred and two ( she was named Merrill after her maternal ancestor). Her death sparks public interest in the "Lost races" and massive archaeological efforts are made around the globe to uncover the past.

390-500 AD: The Darkspawn enter a technological renaissance. New ideas for architecture and public health are devised based on Qunari cities. The Grand Cathedral in Orlais is rebuilt as a huge museum and the Grey Warden fortress of Weisshaupt is discovered. A new Grey Warden Order is formed and they take the fortress as their own. They soon become famed for their training and discipline. A massive statue of Lyna takes pride of place in Weisshaupt's entrance hall.

550 AD: The ruin of Arlathan is discovered and the emissaries use their magic to raise it from the sea. Amazingly many of its books on magical lore are intact. The city soon becomes the home of the Darkspawn College of Magi. The Darkspawn enter the industrial age with the discovery of coal as a fuel.

612 AD: A Genlock named Skystrider builds and pilots the first aircraft, taking off in Orlais and landing in Tevinter. Two days later work on the anti-aircraft gun begins.

700 AD : Grape plants begin to grow again. The Darkspawn discover a use for some of the old Antivan wine recipes they discovered.

1056 AD : The Darkspawn are now the dominant race (helped by the fact they are one of the only races) on Thedas. The discovery of nuclear power catapults them into the atomic age. One Genlock realises that nuclear power can theoretic be used as a weapon. The "atom bomb" is more powerful that even its creator could have guessed and its manufacture is strictly regulated.

1077 AD: The first Darkspawn land on Thedas' moon. The first out is named Strongarm. He becomes famous for the quote "That's one small step for a Hurlock. One giant leap for Darkspawn kind". As soon as they are done celebrating, the Darkspawn set their sights on the nearest planet to their own. Anderfel.

1150 AD : The prothean wreak on Anderfel is discovered. Most of the data in the ships computer is corrupted beyond recovery but what is salvaged leads to the creation of the first Darkspawn star ships (although they currently lack an FTL drive).

1210 AD : Guided by the salvaged data, the Darkspawn discover that the large ice planetoid on the edge of Thedas' solar system is in fact a massive space station , a 'mass relay', encased in ice. It is quickly set upon by Genlock engineers, determined to unlock it's secrets. From it they learn how to attain faster than light travel and how lyrium came to be. Using this knowledge the build the first FTL ship using a lyrium mass effect core. The ships maiden voyage is a complete success and heralds a new age of Darkspawn extra-solar colonisation.

Present day: The Darkspawn now have five colony worlds, the furthest out being the world of Rivane. It is on this world that the Darkspawn has first contact with a hostile alien race. The Turians.

Codex:

Darkspawn races:

The Darkspawn race is divided into four sub-races, Hurlock, Genlock, Shriek (Shirlock), and Ogre (each related to humans, dwarves, elves, and qunari respectively). Each race fills a particular role in society.

Hurlocks:

Hurlocks are the same height and build as a human and are considered the "rank and file" of the Darkspawn. They can be found in most professions from acting to engineering. They have a reputation for being jacks of all trades, yet masters of none.

Genlocks:

Genlocks are the same height as dwarves, roughly four feet high and are renowned for their engineering skills. Their desire to make a larger explosion, build a better nug trap and a higher definition television has been the driving force behind all Darkspawn technological advances.

Shreiks:

Shreiks are about a head taller that Hurlocks but are much more lithe and dexterous. They are typically found in administration roles, where they can put their talent for organisation to good use. In the military, they function as infiltration and assassination specialists.

Ogres:

Ogres are the largest and most physically intimidating Darkspawn. They are close to ten feet tall and built like living tanks. They are VERY hard to kill. Despite their bulk they are very intellectual and have a great fondness for performing arts. In Darkspawn society they normal work on construction projects, moving objects to heavy for smaller Darkspawn.

Broodmothers:

Despite their limited numbers (roughly 5% of the population) Broodmothers are actually the rulers of the Darkspawn, controlling much of the political, economic and social power. The best example of this can be found in the ruling council, where four of the seven seats are held exclusively by Broodmothers. They are highly intelligent and physically powerful. The "Male" Darkspawn are very protective of the Broodmothers and often entre armies will travel with them to ensure their safety.

Society:

Like the dwarves, Darkspawn venerate their ancestors and those who have contributed in a meaningful way to society. Unlike dwarves, this honour is not reserved only for Darkspawn. The biggest example is the Gray Warden Lyna who is venerated, almost worshiped, as the savoir of the Darkspawn. It was her mercy and understanding that has allowed the Darkspawn to become what they are and she is normal associated with mercy, forgiveness and second chances. Her companions are also known and respected and there are many statues to them all throughout the empire.

Darkspawn do not have a currency system or any real concept of money, instead they trade items of value or use for whatever they want or need. E.g. if a Hurlock wanted a new Orlisian style cloak he would "buy" it with a golden statuette of Morrigan.

The Darkspawn are ruled by a council. There are seven seats, four for the Broodmothers of each race who represent the civilian body of the Darkspawn, one for the Omega, commander of the military (either Hurlock, Genlock, or Ogre), one for the High Emissary (Genlock or Hurlock) who speaks for the College. The final seat is reserved for the Architect and is traditionally left empty. Councillors normally stay in office until they retire but can be force to step down if all other councillors find them unfit for the task of governing. This hasn't happened yet though.

The Architect himself has an almost god-like status among the Darkspawn and there are many who believe that when his people need him most, he will return from the land beyond the fade to save them.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2 : Hostile Contact

Despite what most sci-fi movies would have you believe space is completely silent. There's no atmosphere whatsoever, making it impossible to make a sound. So no one could hear the loud music being played in a small two man fighter patrolling Rivane's mass relay.

The Sentinel was stuck in the pilot seat while his gunner, The Tracker, was singing along to the music he had blaring from the ships audio system.

"...I can climb the highest mountain. Cross the wildest sea. I'll be where the griffin's flying higher and HIGHER!"

Sentinel winced. It wouldn't be so bad if only Tracker could carry a tune. He transmitted as much annoyance as he could through the taint but Tracker was too enraptured by the music to notice.

"Gunna be a spawn in motion. All I need's this pair of wheels. Take me where the futures lying SAINT ANDRASTE'S FIRE!"

Finally Sentinel could take no more "WILL YOU STOP THAT!"

Tracker pushed a button, turning off the music. "Be reasonable! There's nothing to do out...are we expecting any transports?"

"No" answered Sentinel, believe that he was just trying to change the subject. "Why?"

"Because the mass relay is turning on."

Sentinel spun round in his chair. Sure enough, the mass relay's rings were rotating faster and faster. Quickly he began to bring the ship out of its power save mode, activating all the systems they'd need for battle. A loud beeping from a front console told him that a ship had just dropped out of FTL.

It was huge. Defiantly a cruiser class ship. It was made up of one almost cylindrical centre section with two 'wings' on either side, near the back.

'Please be friendly' he thought. There were more loud beeps from the console. "Power surge detected!"

"Where?"

"Front section!"

Tracker squinted to get a better look at the ship, then his eyes went wide. "Shit! Those are gun ports!"

Sentinel almost smashed the intercom button "All craft! Enemy ship is powering weapons! Be taking evasive action!" The warning came too late for two ships who were blow apart in the opening salvo. The rest began waving their way through the barrage of enemy fire.

"More ships coming through!" yelled Tracker. Sentinel could see them. Five more ships had joined the first and the relay was still active. Years of military training told him there was no way they were going to make it out of this. He transmitted his feelings to Tracker.

"Oh." he said when he realised his partners plan. "It has been...fun." He started pushing buttons on his consol as Sentinel set a course for the nearest enemy ship.

"What are you doing?"

"If I 'am to be dying, it will be to a decent sound track."

Sentinel shook his head, then chuckled. "Go for it."

Tracker taped a button and the speakers began playing a song by a group called 'Thirty seconds to Anderfel'.

"_A warning...to the people..."_

"Impact in fifteen seconds."

_"The good and...the evil..."_

"Guiding us to their bridge!"

"_This..."_

Several lights went out as the small craft took a hit but still it carried on.

"_Is..."_

"Five seconds!"

"SMILE YOU SONS OF NUGS!"

"_War."_

The small craft passed right through the Turian cruisers kinetic barriers and slammed right into its bridge, causing it to depressurise. In moments the space around the bridge was full of debris and frozen Turian corpses.

On the bridge of the battle ship '_Victory_' Captain Vanrick was absolutely furious. Not only was this new, unidentified species blatantly tampering with mass relays but they had damaged one of his ships and taken the lives of officers under his command.

The last enemy ship had run past the fleet of turians and made it to the relay, where it had promptly gone to FTL.

"I want to know where the enemy home world is NOW!" yelled Vanrick.

"Sir" officer Nurel responded "There's only one planet in this system in the habitable zone. It's likely they came from there."

"Excelent." breathed Vanrick "Helm! Set a course for the second planet from the star. We'll make these scum pay for their actions!"

"Sir?" interjected Nurel. "With respect, this race doesn't know about citadel laws regarding mass relays. Is conquering them really the best course of action?"

Vanrick nearly leapt out of his command chair "They murdered good turians! They have defied Citadel law! They cannot go unpunished!"

"But sir, we fired first, all they did was defend themselves."

"Any more insubordination out of you Nurel and I'll personal throw you in the brig!" Nurel seemed to shrink slightly, then he turned back to his console. Vanrick smiled to himself. Today was going very well. Soon the Hierarchy would have a new territory and a new client race. He was going to get medals for this, maybe even a promotion.

Nurel continued to quietly simmer while the turian patrol fleet made its way towards the systems second planet. He mentally began to note down every breach of protocol and authority his superior made. He knew that Vanrick only really cared about advancing his own career and all his 'righteous' anger was just a smoke screen. When this was all over he would make sure that the first thing Vanrick saw when he got home was the inside of a court marshal.

Within twelve hours of the turians' arrival, news had already reached Thedas. It was still close to midnight on the Darkspawn home world and the councill were less than happy about being woken up.

Vanguard, the current Omega, was on his way to meet with the rest of the council. He marched through large stone corridors decorated with carvings and painting but pausing to admire neither. Around him other Darkspawn were bustling about their daily lives. There were Hurlocks discussing the weather, Genlocks carrying large files and Shrieks constantly checking their omni-tools for news updates.

Eventually he arrived at the door to the council chamber. It was large and ornate, decorated with olisian style artworks and guarded by two armoured Ogres. They both moved aside to let him past, one of the holding the door open for him. The council chamber the group resided in was a large, high ceilinged room, based on Orlisian church design. It was decorated with a number of statues and portraits, each depicting a hero of the Darkspawn race. At the centre was a circular table around which sat the councillors themselves. Vanguard took a deep breath and told the rest of the council what he himself had just been told, and could scarcely believe.

"Are you telling us that Rivane is being invaded by aliens?" asked Wynne, the Hurlock broodmother.

The Vanguard gave a slight sigh of annoyance before repeating himself. "Roughly twelve hours ago a fleet of hostile alien ships appeared in the Rivane system and attacked the stations defence forces. We still don't know who they are or what they want but their intent seems clear. Our destruction."

"Do we know what they are doing now?" asked a shriek broodmother named Vanderhal.

"Last reports have them moving into orbit above Rivane. They appear to be attempting a ground invasion. Local forces will not hold without reinforcements."

"Could this be a prelude to a larger invasion?" asked The Found, High Emissary, and a Genlock.

"Maybe. Other colonies have doubled their patrols and we are sending them extra ships but it seems this is only in Rivane."

The Ogre broodmother Saarebass spoke next "We cannot sit idly by while we are being invaded! We must counter attack!"

There were murmurs of approval from around the table. "I've already ordered both the second and fifth fleets to meet in the Par Vollen system. Plans are being made for a mass troop transportation to Rivane." said Vanguard.

The Found cleared his throat "The College is at the Omega's disposal. We are ready when you call for solders."

Vanguard nodded in approval. "Weisshaupt also knows of the situation. The Commander of the Grey himself has pledged the support of the Grey Wardens. The invaders will be torn apart!" There were roars of approval from all around the table.

The Darkspawn were going to war.

After he'd left the meeting, Vanguard had gone straight to his office and was now pouring over ship reports. They could have two fleets ready in just two days but he had a nagging feeling that they might need a little extra. He tapped out a quick code on his computer, starting a video call with the Genlock Forgemaster in charge of the 'Archdaemon project'.

The Forgemaster was still asleep when his computer began beeping, reluctantly he touched the answer button. "If this isn't an insanely beautiful broodmother, I'm hanging up." he said, groggily.

"Redsteel? It's Vanguard. Rivnae is under attack by an alien force. We need the Archdaemon."

Redsteel got up out of his bunk so fast he banged his head on the bed above. "OW! Are you being serious?!" he asked, while rubbing his head.

"Yes! We need it ready in the next two days."

"Two! It hasn't even been out of dry dock yet, and you want to send it in to a warzone!"

Vanguard rolled his eyes. Genlocks could be so protective when it came to technology. "It will have two whole fleets with it. Now can you get it done?"

Redsteel rubbed his chin, then smiled. "We'll have it ready before you are." then he cut the link. He ran out of his room and made straight for the nearest intercom. Soon his voice was being projected all over the station.

"Attention! All workers! Rivane is being invaded. This not being a joke! The Omega had ordered us to lose Dumat! All hands on deck people! We have two days to get him ready!"

All over the kilometres long dry-dock teams of engineers began furiously hammering, welding and nailing as the raced to prepare their secret weapon.

Redsteel smiled as he looked down from the observation deck at his creation. Whoever these aliens were, they were in for a nasty surprise.

Two days later the Darkspawn second and fifth fleets were assembled at the Par Vollen mass relay. Vanguard was on the bridge of the command cruiser for the second fleet, sitting in the captains chair not a few feet away was Admiral Returned. He was an old Hurlock, nearly five hundred and his skin seemed slightly grey in colour.

There was a buzzing noise then a mechanical voice said "All craft in formation."

"Fifth fleet is ready to move." said Admiral Meredith over the ships com. Meredith was in command of the fifth fleet and had been for sixty years now. She was a Shriek broodmother whose intelligence was only surpassed by her viciousness. She had once been called 'the scariest Darkspawn alive'. Vanguard could see her ship now, a large cruiser called 'the Highever' at the head of her forces.

A little to the left was another battle cruiser, the 'Amaranthine', flagship of the Grey Wardens. The orders own small fleet of twenty was trailing in its wake. From where he was Vanguard could make out the red dragon insignia painted on the side of each ship.

"This is Redsteel." Meredith's voice was replaced by the Forgemaster's. "Sorry we're late. Dumat's all ready, we'll be a minute behind you."

"Confirmed Redsteel. See you on the other side." said Vanguard. He took one last look at the fleet. There were one hundred and twenty ships in total, ranging from arrow shaped frigates to large, bulky battle cruisers, and they were all making their way towards the mass relay. It was an impressive sight to say the least.

"All craft in position. FTL jump in...three...two...one."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three is now up. A big thanks to everyone for their feedback and especially to those who pointed out my spelling mistakes. Hopefully there aren't too many errors this time, I posted the last two chapters the same night I wrote them.

Anyway, enjoy.

Update: Just changed the spacing.

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3: Dumat's revenge

Nurel was board out of his mind. After questioning Vanrick's actions one time too many he'd been assigned to watching the scanners for any enemy ships. It was probable the dullest post on the ship but he could still find way to pass the time. One way was to quietly laugh whenever Vanrick got a bad report of the battle groundside. The captain had been getting a lot of bad reports lately.

The large capital city on the planet's surface had turned out to be an entrance to and even larger underground city, and trying to fight the locals in the confined, pitch dark tunnels was proving to be difficult. The Turians were still winning but they were encountering sterner resistance the further in they pushed.

Nurel hadn't seen any of the indigenous people himself but he had heard descriptions from some of the others. Apparently they were, vicious, primitive and seemingly fearless. One officer had described them as "Nightmare versions of Asari". Some of these reports were no doubt exaggerated but they all had things in common so some parts must have been true.

Nurel's musing was interrupted by a loud beeping from his console. The mass relay was activating and there were signatures incoming.

"Sir!" called Nurel.

"What is it this time?!" demanded Vanrick, in no mood for more 'questions'.

"The relay is active sir. Enemy ships inbound."

"Excellent." said Vanrick, his demeanour suddenly cheerful. "Order all ships into a defensive formation. I doubt that whatever forces they've scraped together will pose much of a threat."

Six small frigates and eight cruiser size ships dropped out of FTL and began moving towards the Turian fleet in orbit.

"Impressive for a rushed response." muttered an officer next to Nurel.

"All ships, lock on targets and prepare to-"

"Sir!" Nurel interrupted Vanrick's orders "More ships inbound."

"How many?!" demanded Vanrick, none too pleased about being cut off.

Nurel stared at the screen in front of him. One of the readings said '_Number of incoming signatures: 120'_

"Lots" he replied.

Every turian in the room stood where they were, transfixed as they watched the darkspawn fleet pour through the mass relay. They were massively outnumbered and from the size of the guns on some of the ships they were outclassed to.

"Orders sir?" asked Nurel, still staring at the enemy fleet. If this was what they could bring in an emergency, what forces could they muster in a full war?

"S-start falling back to relay three fourteen. Tell all craft to use covering fire and-"

"Sir!" Nurel interrupted again.

"What is it his time?!" yelled Vanrick.

"There's one more signature heading our way. It's a lot bigger than the others, likely dreadnaught class. Arriving in three...two...one."

The darkspawn fleet had parted to allow the new ship to pass between them. It was gigantic. At least three kilometres long. As it passed by the other darkspawn ships they could see the ships name '_Dumat'_ written in bright golden letters on the hull. The dreadnaught was practically bristling with weapons but it was the four main guns arranged around the prow that looked the most intimidating. The prow itself was shaped to look like a high dragons head, complete with curving horns that went almost all the way back to the bridge near the middle of the ship.

Then the ships 'mouth' started to open. At first Vanrick thought it was revealing a fighter bay. It wasn't. Inside the ships prow was a gigantic cannon. And it was pointing directly at the turian fleet.

Vanrick didn't even have time to yell out his orders before the Archdaemon class ship fired its Blight Cannon.

**Codex: Archdaemon class Dreadnaught**

**The Archdaemon class ship is the pinnacle of darkspawn weapons technology. Close to three and a half kilometres from prow to stern it rivals even the Destiny Ascension in size. Most of the space inside the ship is taken up by the Blight Cannon, a massive anti ship weapon capable of killing even other dreadnaughts in one hit.**

**Codex : Laser Cannons**

**While all races have laser technology only the darkspawn developed it into more than a point defence system. Each cannon has its own independent power supply so it doesn't drain any energy from the ship it's mounted on. Laser cannons have a higher rate of fire and more destructive power than mass accelerators but they do overheat if fired constantly. **

There was a bright bloom of light as the cannon fired, launching its sixteen tone projectile at the nearest turian cruiser. An unlucky frigate crossed it's flight path and disintegrated like a gnat hit by a bullet. The shell continued onwards through space, hitting the cruiser square on the prow. It didn't stop or slow, it ripped the ship vertically in half. It continued on through the next ship, and the next ship and the one behind that, finally coming to rest buried in the centre of the fifth ship in.

Any surviving turian crew members hopes for rescue were sort lived. Inside the metal shell a small computer registered that it had run out of kinetic energy and sent a signal to the large nuclear device it was attached to. The explosion practically disintegrated the ship, sending shards of metal scything through space and into nearby turian ships, causing horrific damage to the fleet.

That was when the rest of the Darkspawn fleet entered weapons range.

It was less of a battle, more of a nug shoot. Turian ships were shredded like paper by Darkspawn mass accelerators, torpedoes and (in Dumat's case) experimental laser cannons. Agile frigates, piloted by shrikes, weaved their way between the bulky turian craft to deploy all manner of cyber warfare devices, while fighters and bombers (launched from carriers that had hung back from the main engagement) targeted weakened and damaged ships.

It was all over quickly. Five turian ships survived, including the command cruiser, none of them were in good condition. They were currently retreating towards the mass relay they had arrived through, on the other side of the system. Six Darkspawn frigates and two cruisers , the _Highever_ and the_ Ameranthine_, were hot on their heels. The rest of the fleet settled into orbit around Rivane.

More vessels were arriving in system, not warships but transports, carrying the Darkspawn army to the surface. Leading this flotilla were the Grey Warden ships. As they began to make planet fall, two of the Warden's cruisers began to descend with them. It would take them longer to reach the planet's surface than the shuttles passing them by, but with the payload they were carrying it would be worth the extra wait.

**Codex: Darkspawn ships.**

**The darkspawn take the same view on naval warfare as they do on ground battles. Quantity beats quality. Darkspawn fleets normal outnumber their enemies many times over. They also poses many redundant and backup systems along with protective runes and glyphs etched into their hulls. This all makes Darkspawn ships difficult to damage and almost impossible to destroy.**

The Darkspawn made landfall in the forest just outside of Rivane's capitol. Mainly, this was too avoid the turian anti-aircraft fire, which was heaviest in the city, but would also allow the Darkspawn access to 'backup'.

The turian's , in their arrogance, had thought they could meet the Darkspawn head on and destroy them at their landing zone. This turned out to be a bad idea.

The Grey Wardens were on the ground first and were instantly greeted by a barrage of gunfire from the turians. They quickly took cover behind trees and boulders and started shooting back. Soon the whole area was filled with bullets flying back and forth between the two armies.

One Genlock ducked as a bullet tore through the tree bark above him. "Missed!" he yelled at the turians. He turned to face the emissary, who was crouching behind a large rock a short distance away. "Any time now!"

The emissary, a Hurlock, grunted then began to call on the taint inside him to power a spell. Reality seemed to shift slightly as the veil weakened around them, allowing spirits and daemons to enter the world. The spirits began to posses the nearest bodies they could sense. The trees.

The turians began screaming and running as the very forest itself came alive and attacked them. Other emissaries began casting as well and soon the entire forest was heaving with sylvans, marching directly towards the turian's position.

As soon as they realised their attack had failed the ranking turian officers had ordered their troops to take up a defensive position in a ring around the city. As plans went it was up there with the maggot line but it was the only card the turians really had left. It didn't work.

The Darkspawn already on Rivane had known from the start that they couldn't beat the turian invasion, so they'd gone underground. In some cases' literally. Upon hearing that help had arrived these guerrilla groups began rising up out of sewers, abandoned buildings, secret tunnels and basements. The turians organised defence soon became a few scattered groups desperately trying to hold out.

The local militia were not one organised group and their equipment reflected that. Different groups were using everything from scavenged military gear to kitchen utensils. One unit in particular were fighting with weapons and armour they had scavenged from the local museum. The same museum in which they were currently having a fire fight with turian soldiers.

Bullets and arrows were flying left and right with both sides taking cover behind overturned bookshelves and tables. The museum curator, a Shriek, was none too pleased about the level of destruction as he surveyed the battle from his office on the upper level.

A bright flash caught his attention and he saw a turian sniper crouching on a walkway in front of him, taking pot-shots at the Darkspawn below. He grabbed the nearest weapon to hand, a solid marble statuette of a naked Andraste and began to creep up behind the sniper. When he was right behind the turian he lifted the statue and ,muttering a brief apology to Andraste, brought it down on the snipers head.

The turian dropped like a sack of deep mushrooms and the Shriek picked up his rifle. "Let's see...trigger, scope, barrel. How hard can shooting be?" He lifted the rifle, aimed at the turians below and...missed.

Instead of hitting the enemy soldiers he hit a fire extinguisher to their left. It exploded in a blast of foam that left the turians so stunned they didn't see the rest of the darkspawn charging their position until it was too late.

_Somewhere else in the city_

In one of the cities abandoned office blocks a small Genlock looked down at the turian patrol below him. The aliens had gathered chunks of debris around themselves forming a makeshift fort and were now engaged in a long rage skirmish with the darkspawn.

The Genlock looked back at his five friends, two other Genlocks and three Hurlocks, all of whom were holding a very large piano between them. Perched on top of the instrument was a bust of a Hurlock composer, staring out with a stern glair almost as if he knew what was about to happen.

"Alright, they're in position. Three. Two. ONE!" they rushed forward and threw the piano out the open window.

The sound it made when it landed was like a bronto trampling an orchestra. Any turians that weren't killed were wounded or knocked out.

_Along the central highway_

The tank had been trading fire with the darkspawn for what felt like hours. It was all that was left of the 8th armour division that had landed with the rest of the turian invasion, the other five had been pulled apart by living trees. It was currently serving as a fire support platform for a turian infantry platoon who were taking cover in front of it.

"I knew this was going to go badly. I just KNEW it!" said the tanks gunner for the millionth time.

"Will you stop going on about it." replied the driver, who was staring intently at the viewing screen. "Those things are still out there, they may push any second."

"They brought the trees to life for the love of the spirits! That's not biotics, that was magic!"

"There is no such thing as magic!"

Several fireballs rocketed over from the darkspawn's position and landed close to the tank.

"Then what was THAT!"

"Enemy is pushing!" yelled the driver. "I'll start reversing the tank, you just shoot anything that comes after us."

The gunner didn't respond. He was too busy staring at the monster that had just walked into view.

The monster was an Ogre named Arvaarad. He'd heard the tanks gun firing from a block away and he'd decided it would be a good opportunity to test the experimental laser cannon he was holding.

An Ogre would look terrifying if it was wearing a pink dressing gown and covered in koala bears. Arvaarad was wearing a massive set of power armour and holding a glowing red laser cannon the size of his arm so you can imagine the effect all this had on the poor turians inside the tank.

Arvaarad flipped a switch on the cannon, changing it to 'rapid fire mode'. In this state the laser sacrificed most of its stopping power for a massive increase in its rate of fire, perfect for mowing down platoons of infantry.

The Ogre grinned as his suites targeting computer locked on to each turian soldier in front of him. Before firing he yelled out a quote from one of his favourite plays. "And Lyna said unto Urthemiel 'EAT IT YOU SCALEY BASTERD!" Bright beams for red light lanced forwards from the laser cannon's barrel, each one striking a turian, each one fatal.

With the turian infantry dead, Arvaarad switched the cannon back to anti-armour mode and took aim at the hover tank. That was when the laser blew a fuse and went off line. 'Well, it was experimental' thought Arvaarad. He threw the malfunctioning weapon aside and bellowed a challenge at the tank.

The turians inside finally snapped out of their fear induced inaction. The first thing they did was fire off a shot at the Ogre.

Despite the heavy armour and its protective runes the round still hit with enough force to push Arvaarad back a few steps but that was all. The ogre gave a gargling chuckle, then started running towards the tank, planning to ram it head on.

Face with the sight of an Ogre charging straight at him the turian gunner panicked and fired the main gun before he had a good shot lined up. The round that would have taken Arvaarad's head off simply sailed between his horns and off into the distance. The was a loud metallic crunch as Arvaarad slammed head first into the tank, pushing it backwards. He then brought his arms up underneath the tank, impaling it on his armours forearm mounted blades and tipping it on to its side.

With the tank now neutralised it didn't take Arvaarad long to peel open the armour and pull out the two occupants.

"Not so high and mighty now are you, you avian ingrates."

**Codex: Pheastron class tank.**

**The Pheastron class hover tank is a light raider tank employed by the turian military. It's fast and highly manoeuvrable but it lacks the armour and firepower present in most other tanks. It's mainly used for infantry support and harassing enemy positions. **

_Turian command, near the centre of the city._

"I want contact restored with the fleet NOW! Tell all remaining ground forces to begin falling back to the spaceport!" roared general Desolus. There was a round of 'yes sir's as his staff set about carrying out his orders.

The turian general pinched his nose and began to strategise. This battle had gone completely in the enemies favour. The turians were being overwhelmed by sheer numbers and from the looks of it the flood of enemy troops wasn't going to stop anytime soon. On top of all that he was getting reports of the locals using 'otherworldly' abilities and it seemed that Vanrick had taken the fleet out of orbit, leaving him and his men stranded.

Desolus knew that the only way any of them would survive was to hunker down and wait for reinforcements so he'd ordered all his remaining troops to pull back to the makeshift spaceport the turians had set up to land their shuttles.

Then Desolus heard it. A loud 'boom', like a thunderclap. He'd been in enough war zones to know what that sound was. A large ship had just entered the planet's atmosphere.

_The skies above Rivane_

The Grey Warden cruiser '_Vigil'_ had been the first to make planet fall and was now settling into position just outside the city. A soon as the ship had come to a complete stop it began opening every hanger bay, cargo door and hatch. Moments later the air was filled with the sound of wing beats as dragons poured out of every opening in the ship.

It took the fire breathing lizards about ten seconds to reach the city and they instantly began char boiling anything that wasn't a Darkspawn while their Grey Warden riders opened fire on the fleeing turians.

**Codex: Dragons**

**Dragons are large, flying reptiles native to the Darkspawn home planet of Thedas. Intelligent, powerful and capable of breathing fire they are the planets apex predator. Dragons are used as the mounts of the Grey Wardens and are mainly used in urban environments. Although they are less durable than a fighter craft they can outmanoeuvre anything else in the sky. **

_Back at turian command_

Desolus watched as the winged beasts blasted their way through his remaining forces. This was the final nail in the turian's coffin. There was simply now way they could win against all this.

As if to illustrate this point a dragon flew past the window, carrying a screaming turian in its talons.

Desolus breathed a heavy sigh. He'd never had to give this order before and doing it now felt wrong.

"Comms officer. Send out a general order. All troops are to lay down their weapons and...surrender." the turian sitting at the transmitter was stunned for a moment but he dutifully carried out his orders.

"Soldier" Desolus motioned to a private standing guard nearby. "Check on the troops in the lower levels of this building. Make sure they all get this order."

The private saluted and made his way to the door. It wasn't a second later when Desolus heard a loud clang from over by the door. He spun round to see what had happened and instantly regretted it.

There were about five of the locals, standing in a line, all pointing bows and arrows in his direction. The private was lying on the floor in front of them, and standing atop his unconscious body was one of the short ones, holding a frying pan in one hand and what looked like a bottle of cleaning solution in the other.

Desolus raised his hands in surrender. Around him his staff did the same.

"You don't think they eat their enemies do you?" asked the man next to him.

Desolus shuddered at the thought. "Well, judging by their teeth, they don't eat vegetables."

_In space, close to relay 314_

The relay 314 incident was fast becoming the biggest military bungle in turian history. So far almost an entire patrol fleet been lost, complete with hundreds of soldiers, vehicles and a ranking general. And things were still getting worse.

Four of the five fleeing ships had made it to the mass relay and had successfully escaped the Rivane system. The last ship, the one that hadn't made it, was the command cruiser. A lucky shot from the '_Amaranthine'_ had destroyed the ships engines, leaving it virtually dead in space. The darkspawn frigates were circling it like wolves, blasting away and weapons such as gun turrets and GUARDIAN lasers, leaving the ship defenceless.

It didn't take long for the two pursuing cruisers to catch up. Merideth's ship, '_Highever'_ was the first arrive and pulled up along the turian ships starboard side.

"We are in position admiral." announced the tactical officer "Shall we prepare for boarding action."

Merideth leaned back in her chair. She seemed very relaxed and casual as she gave her orders "No. A little torment first I think. Side guns!"

All over the '_Highever_'s hull, gun turrets swivelled round and began unloading into the turian ships side. The cruisers kinetic barriers were already down so every shot blasted away a section of hull plating in a fiery explosion.

Merideth's fun was interrupted by an incoming communication from the '_Amaranthine'. _Reluctantly she put the call through. The view screen in front of her changed from a view of space to the bridge of the _'Amaranthine'_. "Merideth! Stop shooting. We need prisoners to interrogate. Which tends to work best when they're alive!" demanded Captain Watchguard.

Merideth reluctantly ordered her crew to cease fire. As an admiral she techniquly outranked Watchguard but he was a Grey Warden. Their order wasn't part of the regular chain of command, they only answered to the Omega himself. "So Watchguard, how will this work."

"We will both send our forces in through the enemies hanger bay. From there my Wardens will take the bridge while your forces seize the engine room."

Merideth nodded in agreement. "Any additional support?"

"A shriek frigate is already latched on to their underside. Their strike team will go straight for the security hub and take over the ship's systems."

"Understood." she pressed a button and ended the transmission. "Tactical! I want every trooper we have sent over to that ship. And tell the Ogres to get into their torpedoes."

_Inside the turian ship 'Victory'_

Watchguard's plan had one major flaw. The darkspawn didn't know the layout of the turain ship so they only had a rough idea of where they were going. This gave the turians a home field advantage, allowing them to set up traps and ambushes. But as soon as the turians set up any kind of barricade or strongpoint the _Highever_ would fire a boarding torpedo containing an Ogre straight at them. If any turians did survived the pods impact they would defiantly be killed by the rampaging Ogre that would emerge seconds later.

Inch by inch, room by room, the Darkspawn were taking over.

Outside the ships security room three turian guards were standing, nervously listening for approaching enemies. The ship had been boarded five minutes ago and from what they'd herd on their radios, the battles were going in the invaders favour.

One of the guards herd a muffled noise behind him. He spun round just in time to see a tall, slender figure throw something at him. That something turned out to be a knife. The lyrium etched blade passed right through the turian's barriers, armour and lodged in his windpipe.

The other two guards herd him fall but before they could even sound the alarm they were killed in the same way by the rest of the Shriek strike team.

With the guards down the assassins gathered outside the security hub. Pinpointing the hubs location had been a matter of both guesswork and mapping the general layout of the ship. One of the team prepped a demo charge to blow the door off. He was stopped by a hand sign from the teams alpha. The alpha motioned for the team to line up on either side of the door. Once everyone was in position he simply knocked on the door and then quickly flattened himself against the wall.

The door slid open and a single turian stepped halfway out. "Yes? ARRRCKKKK!" Two shrikes impaled him with their blades simultaneously, lifting the turian off the ground. There was one last turian sitting in front of a bank of monitors inside the room. He was dispatched with another blade to the throat.

As the bodies were being moved the teams tech specialist plugged a data spike into the computer, connecting it to the hacker waiting back inside their ship.

Back in the shriek's ship the hacker watched as a flood of new data crossed over his computer screen. "Time to work my magic." he said to no one in particular. He started typing away furiously while relaying tactical info to various teams.

"Team beta, you've got five hostiles waiting in the room on your left. Team echo, there's two of them round the next corner, circle round to flank 'em. He he he, you can't catch a digital shadow."

"Hello, anyone out there hear me?"

The hacker was interrupted by a transmission from inside the ship. He taped a few keys and focused on of the ships security cameras of the source. It was a Genlock in the engine room. He was standing atop a turian, holding a war hammer.

"Reading you Genlock. Status?"

"We're in control of the engine room...Well, what's left of the engine room." a bullet fired from somewhere off screen flew past. The Genlock ducked slightly and threw a fire rune in the shooters direction. The hacker heard the explosion a few seconds later accompanied by the sound of screaming.

"Understood. The Grey Wardens are almost at the bridge. With luck this will all be over soon."

_Outside the ships bridge. _

After about half an hour of solid fighting the Grey Wardens had finally made to the bridge. At first they hadn't really known where they were going but once the Shrieks had taken the security room their hacker had guided them straight to their destination.

"Alright, here's the plan." said the alpha leading the Wardens. "We kill the lights and go in hard and fast, take them all down before they can retaliate. Support! Did you get that?"

The question was directed at the hacker still monitoring the operation. "I be reading you. Now may be the best time, looks like the captain's having a fight with his officer."

_Inside the ships bridge_

"Get back to your position Nurel!" road Vanrick.

"Not this time Vanrick." yelled Nurel.

The bridge crew was arranged in a semi-circle around the entrance, pointing their guns at the door. They all knew the enemy was coming or them but with security down they didn't know when. Most of the officers were staring at Vanrick and Nurel, wondering who would shoot who first.

"It's CAPTAIN Vanrick!" continued the captain.

"To be a captain you need a ship. Your utter incompetence has lead to all this. You have single headedly got sprits know how may turians killed and dragged the Hierarchy into an interstellar war." It was sort of inspiring to see Nurel venting all his repressed anger, even if it was likely to get his executed.

"Vanrick you are probably the dumbest, most over confidant, arrogant excuse for a turian I've-"

Then all the lights went out, coupled with the sound of the doors opening. Darkspawn are a subterranean race, they can see better in the dark than they can in broad daylight. Turians have no such advantage.

It was utter chaos. There were bright flashed that illuminated the ship for brief moments as people fired their weapons, and the air was filled with the screams of the wounded and the roars of the darkspawn.

The lights flickered back on.

Nurel was still standing where he had been. He gun had been taken off his and there was now a very angry looking Hurlock pointing a rifle at his face. As he looked around he saw that at least half of the bridge crew were dead, the rest were in the same situation as he was. Vanrick had slumped back into his chair, three bullet holes in his chest leaking purple blood. He was very clearly dead.

_Back on Rivane, near the spaceport_

After the order of surrender had been given the turian forces had...well...surrendered. They were currently being herded towards the spaceport so they could be moved up to the ships in orbit for interrogation. While the fleet prepared for its new arrivals the turians just waited in a line with the darkspawn standing guard.

Desolus looked around at his battered troops. He spotted one woman that was shivering uncontrollably. "Soldier"

"S-s-sir!" the trooper in question recognised Desolus instantly and made a shaky salute.

"What happened to you?" he asked.

"One of them t-t-threw a rock that exploded like a b-b-blizzard." she explained.

"You think you had it rough." said another soldier that had been listening in. "I saw three of those flying lizards carry off a tank!"

They were interrupted by a scream from further away. Everyone turned round, the Darkspawn brought their weapons to bear, thinking they may be under attack.

A single turian ran out from round a corner. He was unarmed and was defiantly panicking. Seconds later two full grown drakes skidded into view and began chasing the turian. The darkspawn lowered their guns, a few even started laughing. The soldier was saved from becoming dinner surprisingly by another dragon. A large female decided to land for a rest on some rubble close by and the drakes thought it would be a better use of their time trying to impress her than chase the small screaming scaly thing. The turian made it to (relative) safety unscathed but no less frightened.

"Alright that's enough, back to work people." said the Hurlock in charge. He looked up and saw the first shuttles descending towards them. "Do we have any shapechangers?"

Two Genlocks stepped forward. "I want both of you to fly as high as you can and keep an eye out for any stragglers. First sign of trouble, roar really loud."

The Genlocks nodded and started running off away from the spaceport. Once they'd gotten far enough away they both began to glow with an inner light, then they changed into dragons and took off.

The turians watched this with both amazement and disbelief.

"Did you just see that?" asked an officer next to Desolus.

"You mean the two short ones turning into flying lizards?" he replied.

"Yeah, that."

"No. I didn't."

"Good, neither did I."

* * *

I take it everyone enjoyed it when a piano feel of the Turians? This will be the last chapter for a while but once I've gotten some other projects out of the way I'll come back to this.

TTFN.


	4. Chapter 4

Ok, I have bad news and...well, just bad news. A few days ago my computer broke down and the only way to fix it was a complete reset, which deleted all my files. I will still be continuing with this story, but I may take a month or two to finish my other projects first.

Moving on. All the feed back I've had has been generally positive. The only criticisms are my spelling and that I may be making the Darkspawn a little too human. While I'll try to make the darkspawn as unique as possible this may be a running flaw with me, sorry.

Anyway, the show must go on. At least until my computer crashes again.

* * *

Chapter 4: The new Neighbours

Floating in the serpent nebula at the heart of the mass relay network is the Citadel. A colossal space station built by the protheans as the crown jewel of their empire to serve as a center of trade and politics. It still performs these functions today for the younger races that have taken up the prothean's mantel as rulers of the galaxy.

The Citadel is also home to council, a group made up of three representatives of the most powerful races in the galaxy, the Asari Republic, the Salarion Union, and the Turian Hierarchy. While the Council doesn't rule any of its associate species their decisions carry a great deal of weight and no one's really in a position to say no to them. The purpose of the Council is to ensure that the citadel's laws are followed and that order and peace are maintained.

Well, that's what it says in the Official Tourists Handbook anyway. The council is mainly concerned with keeping order; peace is more of an optional bonus.

An option that may well be off the table in this latest crisis.

Inside the councils private chambers Councilor Tevos was reclining in her chair reading a data pad and suppressing a mounting headache.

To her left was the Salarion councilor Marken who was studying his own data pad intently. Standing just to Marken's right was his aid and protégé Valern, quietly observing the proceedings.

The Turian Councilor, Sparatus, was standing just in front of them, next to General Septimus Oraka who was giving a report on events and reasons why the council should intervene.

"-which is why we need to devote the full resources of the council to combating this new threat." continued General Septimus "This hostile new race is no doubt preparing for an attack on citadel space as we speak."

"Is hostile really the best word to describe them?" asked Marken in his usual smug tone. "By your own report they only attacked after Commander Vanrick fired upon their ships without warning then launched an invasion of one of their worlds."

Sparatus' mandibles twitched in annoyance "The actions of Commander Vanrick are not the point of this meeting."

"No, the point if this meeting is for you to ask us to involve ourselves in a war you started."

"I agree with Marken." announced Tevos before Sparatus could respond. "Peace is always a preferable alternative to war Sparatus. The Asari Republic will send a diplomatic mission to meet with this new race. Hopefully they will listen."

"You cannot be serious!" yelled Sparatus "Tevos, these aliens can't be reasoned with, you must understand that-"

"No, you two need to understand this." Tevos almost jumped out of her chair and marched up to within inches of Sparatus. "If these aliens go to war with us purely because of the Hierarchy's actions then I will spend the rest of my career making life very hard for the both of you." The asari marched out of the room, leaving two very flustered turians in her wake.

Tevos had been a diplomat of the better part of three hundred years so even while on her way to her office her mind was going over the possibilities. The aliens would be very angry after the turians actions, so she would have to send someone who could both calm them and convince them to become an associate of the council.

Fortunately she had just one such Asari on speed dial.

_Darkspawn second fleet. In orbit above Rivane_

Close to four hundred turian solders had been sent down to conquer Rivane, only a little under two hundred remained.

The Darkspawn had decided early on that it wouldn't be practical to house all these prisoners of war on the ground, there was too great a chance of them escaping. So instead they'd moved the turians up to the fleet in orbit to be imprisoned and interrogated.

Warships weren't built to hold that many POW's but with a little time and lyrium makeshift prison cells had been set up, complete with barrier fields, in each ship's cargo hold.

It wasn't long before problems began to arise. Communication was impossible at first but eventually the Shrieks got a translator program working. The first thing the Turians had said was "For the love of the Spirits! We. Can't. Eat. Your. Food!"

Which led to the second problem. Making a meal for a species with dextro DNA hadn't been entirely successful. The result was a tasteless paste that had only minimal nutritional value, still it was better than starving and it didn't give the turians stomach cramps.

The third problem was fear. After a turian had been interrogated they were moved to another ship so they couldn't tell their comrades what to expect. Seeing their friends dragged off never to be seen again by monsters with large pointy teeth quickly led to the rumor that the Darkspawn were eating the turians.

As soon as they found out about this myth the guards did everything they could to perpetuate it. One of their favorite methods was to give double rations to whoever was going to be interrogated next. It wasn't long before every turian was convinced they were going to be served up as part of a victory banquet.

But just because the turians weren't being eaten doesn't mean that all of them survived.

_Interrogation room 16 B_

Private Adrean Volm had been sitting in the same bare, dimly lit room for the better part of fifteen minutes now, waiting for something to happen.

He knew exactly what his captors were doing. Every recruit went through basic interrogation training; they were using his own anxiety against him. It was working

Adrean hadn't been left alone however. One of the big ones with horns was leaning up against a wall, staring at him balefully. Adrean had tried to start a conversation to see if he could learn anything but all he'd gotten in response was a snarl.

It had been so quiet Adrean almost jumped out of his chair when the doors whooshed open and one of the tall, thin ones walked in. It sat down in the chair across from him. Up close the alien looked ugly, with green, lizard like skin, sharp teeth set in a vicious grin and mandibles that made it look like a twisted version of a turian.

"Hello" it said.

Adrean responded by reciting his name, rank and serial number, just like he'd been taught.

"And my name is the Seeker. Now, to business."

What followed was the Seeker asking Adrean a series of questions and the private responding with name, rank and serial number to each one. Most of the questions were what Adrean was expecting 'Where is your home world', 'What is the strength of your military' etc. But there were also some weird ones like 'What is your favorite color', 'Name the scariest movie you've ever seen'. Adrean guessed these were supposed to catch him off guard somehow.

The Seeker stopped asking questions and breathed a heavy sigh. "You're not going to tell me anything are you." Adrian responed the same as he always had, only this time he put as much 'up yours' into his voice as he could.

"I see." Seeker pressed a button on his omni-tool, placing a call to the guard outside. "Send in Latharge." He stood up and made his way towards the door.

"Clamps or electrodes?" asked Adrean, jokingly.

"Worse." muttered Seeker.

Adrean heard the Ogre start mumbling something under its breath. "Active thoughts. Running, jumping, swimming. Active thoughts."

The doors opened allowing a solitary figure to float into the room. Adrean tried to scream but he didn't have the strength. The thing that had just appeared couldn't be real. It looked like it was made from smoke with leather armor on its arms and hunched back. A hide patch covered half of its mouth less face leaving only one glowing purple eye visible.

The monster moved into the chair that Seeker had just vacated. Adrean suddenly felt very tired. He hadn't slept in days. Why not just rest for a while. He couldn't be questioned if he was asleep. The world would go on without him.

There was a slight thump as Adrean's head hit the table. The sloth daemon Latharge looked down hungrily at the delicious morsel he'd been provided.

"Find out anything you can." instructed the Seeker.

"Hmmm...yes. I may have to mmmmm hollow him out. He will be permanently (yawns) damaged."

"Your point being?"

"Nothing. Just informed consent."

The Seeker turned and left along with the Ogre leaving Adrean with the sloth Daemon.

"Now...open wide and say..."

_On the Battle Cruiser Val Royoux, Outside the cell blocks_

Stormchaser was board out of his mind. Having to sit in the same place for hours on end guarding prisoners that could not escape had to be the dullest task in Darkspawn history. Still, the TV reception was fantastic so he could pass the time by watching movies non- stop.

His favorite horror film, The Children, was just getting to the good bit when his relief, another Genlock named The Harrowed, walked into the guard post. Harrowed looked at Stormchaser, then at the vat of nutrient paste next to him.

"You were supposed to give out that food ten minutes ago."

Stormchaser rolled his eyes and turned off the TV. "This slop tastes like cardboard. Their probably grateful they didn't get any."

"Wait. You actually ate that stuff? You do know what the cook does to it before he sends it down here?"

"Ok, first off, that's a myth. I know that cook does not add dragon piss to the food. Second-"

"AAAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHHHH!"

Stormchaser jumped out of his chair, grabbing a shotgun and aiming it at the cell block door. Behind him the Harrowed had unholstered his pistol and was also aiming it in the direction of the scream. The two stood where they were for a few minutes, then Harrowed ran forwards into the cell block. Stormchaser waited a few seconds before going after him.

"If this is someone trying to pull the 'guard, help me, I'm dying' trick I'll throw them out an airlock!"

As the guards ran down the hall they saw that the turian prisoners were pressing themselves against the barrier fields to try and see what was going on.

Eventually they came to a halt outside as cell with a lone turian inside. He was curled up into a ball and staring at the opposing cell.

"Alright. What's the matter with-"

Harrowed stopped when he heard a squelching noise from the cell behind him. A quick look over at his partner told him that he'd heard it to. They both spun round pointing their guns at the prison cell.

"Andraste, Dumat and Andoral!" yelled Stormchaser.

Inside the cell was a female turian and around her was what was left of her cell mates. It was impossible to tell how many there had been, they'd all been torn apart. As they watched she grabbed a nearby arm and took a bite out of it.

"What's wrong with her?" hissed Stormchaser.

"She'd been tainted." replied the Harrowed "She's become a ghoul. There's nothing we can do for her. I'll drop the shield, you shoot her."

The turian-ghoul threw the arm away and tore off a chunk of flesh from a nearby torso.

"WHAT'S GOING ON OUT THERE!?" shouted one of the other prisoners.

"SHUT UP!" yelled the two Genlocks in unison.

Stormchaser trained his shotgun on the turian while Harrowed marched over to the rune that controlled the glowing magic barrier keeping the ghoul contained. He placed his hand on the rune, causing it to glow as it activated. The ghoul reacted instantly, as soon as the barrier was gone she dashed out, slamming into the Harrowed, pinning him to the floor.

"Getheroffgetheroffgetheroff!" He shrieked. Stormchaser aimed his shotgun at the ghoul but he couldn't get a good shot. While he hesitated the infected turian tried to bite the Harrowed's face but he moved his head out of the way just in time. Spotting an opening Harrowed bite the ghoul on the shoulder. It yelled in pain and reared up out of reach, which gave Stormchaser a clear shot.

The ghoul was thrown back into the cell by the shotgun blast. Harrowed staggered to his feet, spitting out tainted blood. "We bite back scaly!" he yelled at the ghoul, which was already getting back up for another attack. Harrowed picked up his pistol and fired six shots. The turian jerked and spasmed with each hit but she stayed standing.

Stormchaser ran into the cell and began blasting the ghoul at point black range.

"Why!"

BLAM

"Won't!"

BLAM

"You!"

BLAM

"Fall!"

By now the turian looked less like a ghoul and more like an animated corpse. She was bleeding massively from multiple gunshot wounds, there was a large hole right threw the lower part of her body and her left arm had almost been severed.

Having had enough Harrowed marched up to the ghoul, put his pistol in its mouth and blew out the back of its skull. This time she went down permanently.

The two genlocks stood triumphantly over their fallen enemies corpse. "You ok?" asked Stormchaser.

Harrowed reached up and touched his gums "I think I lost a tooth in that thing." the other Genlock gave an empty chuckle. "Ok. Go back and send out a general broadcast. Aliens can catch the taint. Where there's one there'll be more."

Stormchaser nodded and ran off back towards the guard post.

The Harrowed took another look around the gore covered cell. "And tell someone to send a mop!"

_Asari Republic cruiser Illintia, Close to Relay 315_

It's often said that first impressions are everything and this is mostly true. As soon as you look at someone you'll instantly draw up a number of conclusions about them, true or not. The first meeting between a council race and the darkspawn ended in an invasion and bloodshed so their impression of the whole council would now be that they were a hostile force out to conquer them. This ment that the Asari diplomats would have to convince them that the relay 314 incident was all a big misunderstanding and that the council was not their enemy.

The diplomatic mission consisted of one cruiser class ship. Some had thought it would be better to end the Destiny Ascension, but sending a dreadnought through the relay would look like the start of another invasion, while a cruiser still looked powerful but not too intimidating.

On the bridge of the _Illintia_ Martiarch Ishal sat in her command chair, looking out at the mass relay suspended in space before her. Everyone else on board was too busy rushing around to really admire the view.

Ishal's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her aid's voice. "Matriarch Ishal? The ship is ready to make way."

"Yes. Thank you Iona." Ishal looked over at the young Asari maiden standing next to her. Iona couldn't have been more than eighty and she was accompanying Ishal on what could easily be this ships final voyage. "Relax Iona. Despite whatever you've heard about this new race they are not monsters, we won't be shot on sight."

"Yes Matriarch, I'm sure you're right." Iona's voice didn't hold much confidence.

Ishal turned her attention back to the task at hand. "Helm, take us toward the relay. All hands! Prepare for FTL jump."

_Near relay 314, Outside the interrogation rooms on the Redcilff_

Vanguard had spent almost half an hour waiting for someone to show up and give him a progress report on the interrogations. He wasn't displeased with the wait; it gave him a chance to read up on the post-battle reports. Repair teams were already on their way from Thedas to fix the damage caused to Rivane, all damaged ships had been patched up and sent to the nearest dry-dock for repairs and a science team were on rout to the relay to shut it down to prevent any surprise attacks.

He was interrupted by a beeping sound from his wrist. Vanguard put down his data pad and answered the call coming in on his omni-tool. A holographic screen appeared above the hurlock's forearm showing a image of Forgmaster Arum's face.

"Omega. You asked for a report on the alien technology."

"Yes, but I ment in the form of a data pad."

Arum shrugged "Writing isn't my strong point, better to explain this way." The genlock pushed a button on his own omni-tool and Vanguard's viewpoint shifted to show Arum's entire body. The image he was now seeing must have been coming from a holographic drone that Arum had just created.

Standing close to Arum was a shriek who was intently reading his own data pad.

"This is The Seer, he's the one in charge of gathering information on the council."

The Seer looked up at the mention of his name, then he noticed the hovering drone. "Ah, right. Well my team and I have hacked into the 'extranet' and have begun mining data. We'll forward anything relevant but most of it is just pictures of naked Asari."

"What's the point of that?" asked Vanguard.

"We're not sure. There is one other thing. Someone else had a back door into the extra net."

"So another race was monitoring the council. Who?"

Seer shrugged "We don't know, when we tried to make contact the door closed."

Arum thanked the shriek alpha for his input and walked off, with the camera following him. Vanguard could still hear the Seer even though he was off screen "Hmmm, two Hannar one Asari? What is-ARRRGGGHH! ANCESTORS, MY EYES!"

Arum made his way over to a hurlock who was dismantling a turian console. "What have you found?" asked Arum, hopefully.

The hurlock stopped working and looked down at the Forgmaster "Well, these lights keep flashing in a pattern but other than that this machine seems to serve no function whatsoever."

"So to cut a long story short you haven't found anything." said Vanguard.

"No, we've found plenty." insisted Arum. "We've already unlocked their codex which has given us vast knowledge of the Turians and other races. They are part of a council that is ruled over by three races, Turians, Asari, Salarians. I'm uploading a copy to you know."

Vanguards omni-tool pinged as the file downloaded. "There is one other thing sir. These aliens are unimaginative."

Vanguard narrowed his eyes at the screen "Meaning?"

"Well...aside from a few minor thing they've copied prothean tech completely with no real innovation. If the prothean's didn't have it then the council hasn't bothered trying it. Even after discovering the relay we still had two teams looking into alternate methods of FTL. I doubt the turians even bother with such things."

The omega took a few moment to digest this "That is...interesting, and encouraging." The interrogation block door opened and a shriek stepped out. "Continue your analysis Arum, but next time send a report in writing." Vanguard turned off his omni-tool and stood up to face the shriek.

"Seeker."

"Omega, this way." the tall darkspawn moved aside allowing Vanguard to pass by.

"What have you learned?" asked the hurlock omega as the two walked down the corridor.

"Not as much as I'd like. Torture was never going to be effective so we summoned daemons to extract information. It was a messy business but we caught a break when we used a Desire daemon on their commander."

"He's talking then?" asked Vanguard.

The Seeker rolled his eyes "It's worse than a love struck drake. He just won't shut up. But that's not why I requested you're presence Omega."

The two came to a halt outside one of the many interrogation rooms. Seeker unlocked the door with his omni-tool and they both stepped inside. Sitting at the plain metal table was a turian officer, no different from any of the others Vanguard had seen.

"This is petty officer Nurel." said the Seeker. "You'll want to hear this."

The turian looked from the Seeker to Vanguard, then he asked "Are you the one in charge?"

Vanguard took a step forwards "I am the Omega."

Nurel had no idea what that ment but he guessed that this alien was some kind of ranking officer. "Listen, you have to understand. All this...it's just a misunderstanding!"

"Yes, clearly you're invasion was just a trick of the mind." muttered The Seeker.

"No." Nurel's voice was suddenly tinged with desperation as the tried to explain "The Hierarchy didn't authorize this, we didn't even tell anyone before the invasion started. This was all Commander Vanrick's doing!"

"And where is this 'Vanrick ' now?" asked Vanguard.

"He's dead."

"Even if this is truth, why did he do this in the first place?" asked the Seeker.

Nurel relaxed slightly, finally he felt like he was getting somewhere. "The council used to have no policies about activating mass relays. One day explorers discovered a system inhabited by an insect race called the Rachni. They started a war and nearly conquered all of Citadel Space. After the war the council made opening new relay's illegal."

Seeker nodded as he listened. "Yes, I read of this in your codex. It said nothing of a 'shoot on sight' policy though."

"Vanrick overreacted. If you saw a child reaching for a loaded gun wouldn't you pull him away?"

"No, how else will he learn how to use it." replied both darkspawn in unison.

Before Nurel could reply he heard a loud wailing noise from outside. He recognized it instantly as an alarm of some kind. Vanguard brought up his omni-tool and called Admiral Returned on the ships bridge.

"Admiral! What's happened?"

"Omega, the relay is activating. The genlocks couldn't shut it down in time! An alien ship is incoming."

Vanguard ran out of the room, heading for the bridge. The Seeker followed him out, locking the door behind him leaving Nurel alone. As Nurel sat there he quietly hoped and prayed that he would get out of here alive and see Palivan again.

_In space, orbiting around Rivane's moon_

Runtime 00005672fa6: Analyzing data. Processing. Darkspawn species has history similar to geth. Recommend establishing contact.

Runtime 85670dsb9 : Organic races have proven hostile to geth 100% of the time. Darkspawn race will act in the same way.

Runtime 00005672fa6: Darkspawn do not behave in the same manner as other organic races. We cannot predict their reaction to us.

Runtime 5209cag2: Asari cruiser inbound. Likelihood of diplomatic solution between council and darkspawn 69.87%.

Runtime 85670dsb9: Likelihood of darkspawn joining the council?

Runtime 5209cag2: We have insufficient data to draw a conclusion.

Runtime 6850fgu5: Data will be sent to main consensus. Geth will decide if we are to make contact with Darkspawn race.

* * *

And that's chapter four, all done and dusted. On a side note, I find it...difficult to think up names for the alien races. If anyone can think of any Asari, Turian or any names for any of the alien races I'd really be grateful. Thanks.


End file.
